- If you want to hit the pecs, stop wasting time trying to alter your bench press. Flys or crossover cable pulldowns (which is simply a machine version replicating what bench flys do…) will get you better results.
The bench press is a mass builder, but the limiting factor to the movement is the triceps. Any weight that would challenge the pecs, will overwhelm the triceps. Useless. Even the widest grip (see below) will never build huge defined chesticles. Use an exercise designed to do that: flys.
- Grip widths are chosen to vary the percentage of work being done by the triceps and pecs. Narrow grip = more tricep less pec, along with more bar travel distance. Widest grip = less tricep more pec, along with shortest bar travel distance. This last one is why many powerlifters go wide, so they can shorten the range of motion to make the lift.
Which should you use? Depends on your goals. Which should a novice use? Middle. About shoulder width apart or slightly wider. Novices are doing the movement for overall mass and need not be wasting their time concerning themselves with micromanagement and tweaks to hit pecs or triceps differently. Once they are into the intermediate range, with a year or more lifting experience under their belt… then they can start considering tweaks. This is why Rippetoe’s version is middle. SS is a novice to intermediate program.